GREENWOOD -
Greenwood School District voters will be asked to approve a
$500,000, five-year budget addition on the April 5 ballot.

But the override
referendum will not keep the School Board from looking into
consolidation options with neighboring school districts.

"The school board
approved a measure with Loyal to hire a company to do a financial
consolidation feasibility study," said John Eitenmiller,
Greenwood's interim superintendent. Loyal School Board has tabled
making a decision on a study until after April 5, said board member
Ken Loos.A consolidation study would investigate if two districts
interested in consolidating would save money after joining
together.

Greenwood also has
a five-year financial plan approved with options in case the
referendum does not pass April 5. The district is anticipating a
$218,000 deficit under the state's current funding formulas and is
facing roofing problems with an estimated cost of $280,000 to
$300,000 to fix.

Since 1999, cuts
of $641,436 in teachers, staffing, administration and busing have
been made as the enrollment declined. Eitenmiller expects
enrollment numbers to continue to drop - reducing the state aid the
district receives.

Al Dallman is
chairing the Yes Greenwood Schools committee to promote the
referendum question to voters in the district. The committee is
working to get information out, and plans to call people on April 5
to make sure they vote in the election.

"If we're going to
continue as Greenwood School District, we need to pass this
referendum," Dallman said. "Even if consolidation is an issue, we
need to pass this and look at it to see if there are any districts
willing to consolidate." If the referendum doesn't pass,
Eitenmiller said he will go to the board in May with a recommended
$218,000 in cuts, and he's down to cutting programs. Already,
Greenwood has held two failed override referendums, one in 2001 for
$325,000 reoccurring and one in 2002 for $325,000 for four years.
"We have our work cut out for us, but it's more positive this
time," Dallman said. He referred to all the cuts the district has
made to balance the budgets over the past few years.

"Preserving the
school in the community is my biggest concern," Dallman said. "It
still may come to consolidation, but we need to pass this
referendum so a study can be done."